In 1984, Drs. Bob Chen and Katy Irwin learned that an international member of their Epidemic Intelligence Service class was going to have to quit the two-year program because her funding had fallen through at the last moment. Because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had no way of providing financial assistance to international participants in its varied public health training courses, the two young physicians decided to remedy this situation by establishing the Atlanta International Health Fellowship (AIHF) program.

With help from other CDC employees and retirees, they set about raising funds and then formed a partnership with Emory University, which provided free tuition to one individual each year to attend Emory's International Course in Applied Epidemiology. They also formed a partnership with Villa International, which provided free housing to the AIHF recipient.

In 1997, a grant from The Tull Charitable Foundation was added to existing funds, and the Atlanta International Health Fellowship became the first endowed fund at the CDC Foundation. Since the first fellowships were awarded in 1991, 25 individuals from over 22 countries have received stipends to cover costs of travel, tuition and lodging as they enrich their public health expertise at CDC.

Fellowship Overview

The CDC-Hubert Global Health Fellowship, endowed by the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust is designed to encourage students to think of public health in a global context. Established in 1999, the fellowship provides an opportunity for third- and fourth-year medical and veterinary students to gain public health experience in an international setting. Hubert fellows spend six to twelve weeks in a developing country working on a priority health problem in conjunction with CDC staff. Through these experiences, students establish relationships with, and receive training from, recognized experts from CDC and other national and international health agencies. Examples of students’ past experiences include:

• Health outcome evaluation of various home drinking water treatment and storage methods in Guatemala
• Review of antiretroviral therapy in private practice, Kenya
• Study of the epidemiology of Lassa Fever in rural Guinea, West Africa
• Development of surveillance systems for surgical site infections, antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in a tertiary surgical center in Hanoi, Vietnam

Each year, a limited number of fellows are selected to participate in the program and receive a stipend to cover travel costs. Fellowship opportunities vary each year.

For eligibility and application information, please visit www.cdc.gov/HubertFellowship.

For more information, please email hubertfellowship@cdcfoundation.org.